* * *
Mickey:u hve a fob for powr Fitness
Benito stared at the message. It was six in the morning, twelve hours since Mickey had walked out of Barnfield Court, and he’d just about resigned himself to never seeing him again, at least not in the capacity he wanted to.
He was also parked outside the gym with the key fob in questionliterally in his hands.
What the hell was life right now?
Benito:Yeah. I do. Why?
Mickey:theres 1 in newport pagnell. meat me there?
Benito:Again... why?
Mickey:to talk
Benito:About?
Mickey didn’t answer straight away. Benito drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. His body was tired from the hour-long workout he’d just put in, but his brain had been full of Mickey even before the message had chimed in. Never once had he picturedthismoment, though.He wants to meet.
It felt like a cruel trick.
Benito caved and sent another message.
Benito:When?
Mickey:6 am 2morw
Damn. Twenty-four hours. Could he wait that long? Benito honestly wasn’t sure, but he sent his response all the same.
Benito:I’ll be there
Mickey went offline. Benito wondered if he’d just got up, or if he was on his way to bed. Before yesterday, he’d pegged Mickey for a night owl, not a suit who worked for the social.
He wasn’t wearing a suit, and the housing association has nothing to do with social services.
But still. The Mickey that Benito had concocted in his head had existed on the other side of the divide. OnBenito’sside. They’d met twice and had even fewer real conversations, but the common ground had felt so real Benito hadn’t stopped to contemplate that it wasn’t. That his interpretation of Mickey had been just that—another fucking fantasy, and this time, it hadn’t come true.
Benito drove home via the supermarket and picked up a week’s worth of groceries for Rosetta and Gianna. Rosetta’s peasant-style cooking meant they didn’t need much, but he still felt sick when he thought of all the things they’d managed without all this time. He bought extra chocolate for Gianna and the expensive espresso beans Rosetta liked; then he steered the car towards Barnfield Court and tried to accept the cloud of doom that settled over him.
I hate this place.
The exterior door had been vandalised overnight. The glass was smashed and the lock nowhere to be seen.
Benito stepped over the mess and jogged upstairs. Praying Rosetta was still asleep, he let himself into the flat with the key Gianna had given him the night before.
Silence greeted him. Benito set the shopping bags down in the hall and tiptoed to Gianna’s room. Her door was open, and she was curled beneath the purple sheets he’d bought her a few months back, fast asleep with one hand on the orange cat and her cheek on her phone.
Under Sullivan’s watchful gaze, Benito crept closer and plucked the phone free. He set it on the chest of drawers with the chocolate and backed up, shutting her door behind him.
“What are you doing here?” Rosetta stepped out of the shadows, a robe clutched tight around her, face pale, eyes wide, a kitchen knife in her hand. “I thought you were a burglar.”
Benito rolled his eyes. “What would I be stealing? You don’t have jack shit in this place.”
“Your sister is here.”
“Yeah, well. Anyone kidnapped her, they’d soon bring her back.”
